What's for breakfast?

[Rolf]

I keep bonking on Dallas Rd. and it may be related to my pre-ride breakfast consisting of one tiny Clif shot! I find eating anything at 5:45 a.m. is hard. I was thinking a bedtime bowl of cereal or other carby treat might be the way to go, but I'm eager for ideas.

So what do you consume before 6 a.m.?

[shawnc]

I'm big into banana, natural peanut butter and honey piled on two pieces of whole grain bread right after I wake up at 5:10. The nights before I ride I also make sure to have a nice bowl of oatmeal/red river cereal a little before bed, or some other high-carb meal (last night it was crackers and cheese at a potluck).

I've never used the gels but I don't see how they could keep you going if you haven't eaten anything else that morning.

Of course, if you don't want to drag yourself out of bed any earlier than 5:45 you could always eat a Clif bar on your ride over to Pareto Logic

[Brian S]

When you get up in the morning (after your night time 'fast') you definitely need something to re-establish your liver glycogen stores. Glycogen is a glucose polymer--kind of like starch, and is rapidly broken down to glucose as needed. It is the primary stored muscle fuel, and is stored in significant amounts in both your muscle and liver. The latter are mobilized quite quickly to support muscle glycogen and glucose based metabolism. Glycogen depletion spells b-o-n-k. Fatty metabolism provides a slower more steady support.

There are lots of methods/theories regarding how best to support this re-fueling need in endurance sport resources, and figuring out what works best is fun--it involves eating. A night time snack works for some. If you have time (an hour? who wants to get up that early?) a more complete breakfast can be right for others. I find if I get up and 'go' a glass of OJ with a small scoop of protein (whey) powder--kind of like a mini-recovery drink, works well, and is quickly absorbed. Gels are great, although experiment with different brands. Glocuse polymers (or malto-dextran) are a little more slowly absorbed, that some, and may be less inclined to bring on a secondary bonk (clifs are brown rice syrup based). I like power gels, and can get a bit of caffeine going as well from some flavours--helps with fat based metabolic support.

It's all black magic, experiment (never on race days)--but get something into that gut

[wonger]

This is what I love about this group. I don't know what the hell Brian is talking about but he sure sounds like he knows a lot.

I've been eating a hard boiled egg and a banana or apple before riding in the morning. Lately I've been getting up a bit earlier (5:15) and getting it in me right away and that seems to help.

Before Saturday's longer ride I got up at 5:00 and had a huge bowl of fruit, nuts, yogurt and hemp seeds. I also took along a banana and two bottles of gatorade and that worked really well.

[BryanS]

I big bowl of vector cereal, and a banana at about 5:25am works great for me

[mlawless]

Wait a second - we are supposed to eat before the rides? Doesn't all that food just weigh you down so you are slower on the hills? I am slow enough on the hills already, thank you very much!

I tend to try and eat supper the night before a ride and then ride without food to let my body know who is in charge - if I give in to it's unreasonable demands (I do not negotiate with terrorists), who knows where the slippery slope will end (three meals a day - then how could I run at lunch time - I would be too busy eating.)

[JohnT]

Nutella on one piece of toast and jam on the other.

Eatting before bed can keep you up - last night I ate a big bowl of yogurt and granola before bed and was wide awake at 2 am (and decided not to get up at 5:30 am).

JT

[shawnc]

I find if I go to bed a little hungry, especially after exercising a lot that day, I will invariably have a fitful sleep and have to get up at 3:00AM to eat because I'll be ravenous. I then have trouble falling back asleep.

Brian is right - you'll need to experiment to find what works best for you, which is a delicious process!

Do I eat so I can ride, or ride so I can eat? Sometimes I can't remember...

[Brian S]

This is what I love about this group. I don't know what the hell Brian is talking about but he sure sounds like he knows a lot.

Half the fun of being labelled a Tri-geek by some, is that it gives you the excuse to behave like one, once in a while. Besides my parents gave me my initials--I should use them.

[Dolly]

I keep bonking on Dallas Rd. and it may be related to my pre-ride breakfast consisting of one tiny Clif shot! I find eating anything at 5:45 a.m. is hard. I was thinking a bedtime bowl of cereal or other carby treat might be the way to go, but I'm eager for ideas.

So what do you consume before 6 a.m.?

Follow Mikes advice! Don't eat anything, just buy a brand new bike ( and don't tell your wife!)

[Rita]

You'll have to forgo quite a few breakfasts before you can buy a bike from the saved money ...

Since I've paid off all of my bikes now, maybe I should start having breakfast before the rides?

[Rolf]

Thanks for weighing in y'all. You've given me much food for thought. I'm off to stuff my face with something.

[Greg Miller]

I would like to try gels for the longer rides. Any suggestions on where to buy? I thought I heard discussion about the Pharmasave on Fort and Richmond by our weekday meeting spot being a good place.

Thanks,
Greg

[Rolf]

Greg: the Jubilee Pharmasave at Fort and Richmond has the cheapest Clif bars in town. They used to be $0.79, but recently went up to $0.99 I think. Not sure about gels, but I'll bet they're reasonable. MEC's usually a safe bet, too.

Clif Mocha and Powerbar Double Espressos have a nice little 50 mg caffeine kick to get one going in the morning... but it's quick energy only. Clif Strawberry tastes the best to my mouth.

[shawnc]

Wow, Jubilee Pharmasave, here I come! I've been paying $1.40 for Clif bars at MEC.

[AdamD]

Thanks for the tip off. My vote goes for any Cliff with peanut butter!

[Greg Miller]

For Saturday's ride I tried eating more for breakfast and more during breaks / during the ride. I had two pieces of toast with peanut butter a bowl of granola with yogurt. I ate at 5:00 instead of 5:20 to give me some more time to digest. I ate a banana in Sidney, a fruit bar just after Lands End, and another bar at the Observatory. This made a big difference for me. Up to now I have only had toast for breakfast and a banana in Sidney. Two weeks ago I boinked hard during the last half of the ride, and I am realizing now there have been other rides where I get home feeling completely depleted and starved. I used to think this was just par for the course, but clearly nutrition can make or break these longer rides.

I am sure this is old news for many, but it sure has been an eye opener for me.

Greg

[AlW]

During the week, I usually go with a couple of bananas or a bowl of oatmeal and a single bottle of eLoad on the bike. Rides are rarely over 2hrs, do don't usually eat on route.

Weekends are usually 3+ hours, so I find tend to eat a lot more to survive the extra hour. Pre-ride is a double serving of oatmeal w/ brown sugar (or oatmeal and coffee at Starbucks). On route, 2 bottles of eLoad, a Clif bar at Matticks or Sidney, then gels or gel blasts every 20-30 minutes after that.

[Lister Farrar]

Two weeks ago I boinked hard during the last half of the ride

Wow, that's impressive.

Or did you mean? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitting_the_wall

Bear in mind this is an all ages forum...

[Brian S]

OK--time to get all trigeekie again. The line seems to have progressed from eating (before) to eating (during), or boinking during. That still seems like a dicey thing to try. Pundits in the endurance sport world say a few things. Firstly, you cannot support all of your calorie needs by oral intake unless you are going really slow. For most of what we do, you still need to support your carbohydrate (CHO) metabolism to avoid the boink/bonk. Loosely the more intense the exercise, the more your muscles need to be fueled by rapidly accessible CHO (see glycogen above). So a short intense ride like Tuesday/Friday can be aided by pre-ride intake, but really all you are going to absorb iduring a ride of that time frame is water. Longer efforts need carbs,and still longer rides need carbs, a bit of protein and maybe a little fat, depending on your likes and needs. A typical target to maintain carb/calorie flow is around 1 gm/kg of CHO per hour, especially if your event/effort is >3 hours. Most people can only absorb up to 50-60 gm/hour, and then you will run into gut problems, so be careful (us) bigger guys. A typical gel is around 30 gm, as is 500 ml of standard mixed sport drink. So for a 2 hour ride, I can get by with a gel and a bottle. For a longer effort, I will try to ingest the equivalent of that amount/hour, especially in the first 2 hours, mixing things up a bit to keep more palatable--eating gels all day long is a bit too chemical even for me.

Most important? Experiment during training. Find what is palatable, what sits well with your gut, AND DON'T TRY ANYTHING NEW ON RACE DAY.

Lastly--the above just scratches the surface of nutritional management. Don't get me going on fluid intake, or sodium losses/replacement.